January 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1
China’s Changing of the Guard: The Problem of State Weakness
The Chinese state is much weaker than most people realize, which bodes ill for the country’s democratic prospects.
898 Results
January 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1
The Chinese state is much weaker than most people realize, which bodes ill for the country’s democratic prospects.
January 2003, Volume 14, Issue 1
The Chinese state has become more efficient, constrained, and responsive—improvements that could lay a base for a successful transition.
January 2025, Volume 36, Issue 1
Democracies — facing gridlock and polarization — often fall short. But it should be remembered that dictatorships do even more harm.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Liberty and self-government are not only good in themselves, but also have powerful and beneficial effects on a nation’s level of economic development and prosperity.
January 2015, Volume 26, Issue 1
Excerpts from: an open letter by the Hong Kong Federation of Students to Chinese premier Li Keqiang; the campaign manifesto of former finance minister Ashraf Ghani, who was proclaimed Afghanistan’s president; the third annual Carlos Cardoso Memorial Lecture; an open letter calling for the release of human-rights activist Liu Xiaobo.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
Excerpts from: South Korean president Kim Dae Jung’s speech accepting the 2000 Nobel Prize for Peace; the inaugural address of Ghanian president John Kufor; Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s inaugural address; the “National Action Charter for the State of Bahrain”; the “Appeal for Democracy” issued on behalf of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.
July 2024, Volume 35, Issue 3
A review of The Death of Truth, by Steven Brill, and Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality, by Renée DiResta.
April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2
Syrians rejoiced when Bashar al-Assad’s regime fell. After decades of dictatorship and civil war, Syrians must now rebuild their country while seeking justice for the victims of authoritarian rule.
Russia’s autocrat may be weakened, but his grip on power is greater than many people realize. April 2022 By Maria Snegovaya In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have had a string of military victories, Russia has begun to pull back to eastern Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin appears increasingly isolated, with U.S. intelligence reporting that his advisors…
July 2019, Volume 30, Issue 3
In both Eastern and Western Europe, social-democratic parties have shifted to the center on economic policy, not only sapping the electoral strength of these parties, but also opening up political space for the populist right.
In a matter of weeks, the Russian autocrat has erased his country’s prosperity in a feckless attempt to rebuild a doomed empire. | By Kathryn Stoner
July 2007, Volume 18, Issue 3
Excerpts from: the Berlin Declaration; an interview with Thich Quang Do—winner of the 2006 Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for Human Rights Defenders; a speech delivered by Romanian president Traian Băsescu.
Why Emmanuel Macron’s reelection hangs on him winning support from the very people he has ignored most. April 2022 By Moshik Temkin This month’s French presidential election is giving off a strong sense of déjà vu. As in 2017 and 2002, a center-right presidential candidate (this time, current president Emmanuel Macron) faces off in…
April 2023, Volume 34, Issue 2
Vladimir Putin’s reputation as a skillful leader was buoyed by years of economic good fortune. But when his regime faltered, his rule quickly descended into the fearful, repressive, and paranoid state we see today.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to seize new ground and promote China’s global influence. But their assertive, strong-arm tactics are born from fear and restless insecurity.
July 2003, Volume 14, Issue 3
Like liberals in the British East India Company more than a century ago, European and international officials have become stewards of a people's fate. The intentions are good, but will self-government result?
July 2014, Volume 25, Issue 3
The year 2013 featured unprecedented strides for gay rights in some parts of the world, particularly in Western Europe and the Americas, but also startling setbacks elsewhere, as in Russia and some countries in Africa.
January 2008, Volume 19, Issue 1
Asia's oldest democracy is sinking into a morass of corruption and scandal. The Philippines' president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, continues to undermine the country's democratic institutions in order to remain in power.
October 2023, Volume 34, Issue 4
AI is destined to become another stage for geopolitical conflict. In this contest, autocracies have the advantage, as they vacuum up valuable data from democracies, while democracies inevitably incorporate data tainted by repression.